Believe
I have gotten into Rise of the Guardians and while I haven't read the books, I still feel the need to write my own story. It seems that I can never NOT write a story. Sorry but I must write what comes to me.
Thanks to MisLG for beta-ing my chapter! Seriously the best beta I could ask for! :)
Summary: Stephanie Jones was an orphan at the age of 6 and she really didn't believe in fairy tales. However, one night after the death of her parents, she met one of the most secluded spirits of all times. The Boogieman. After that encounter, she began to see all kinds of spirits, even through her teenage years. Her continued connection to these spirits throughout her life caused her to be an outcast in many places. At the age of seventeen she unwillingly gets involved in the fight against the Boogieman but there's something more to the fight, something more sinister behind all of it. And what scares her the most, is that she's the key to all of it.
Talking; "What the hell Jack?!"
Thoughts:"This can't be real right?"
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Rise of the Guardians or its story plot. I do own my OC Stephanie.
Stephanie's POV
"Jack I'm scared." I sobbed, clinging tightly to the winter spirit as he held me up in the air, thousands of feet above ground. I heard him grunt as he tried to dodge another nightmare horse, but got knocked in the shoulder. I frantically looked around to see if I could find help but the rest of the guardians were too busy fighting Pitch's minions to even get near us. Not to mention that they were furiously trying to protect Sophie, Jaime, and his friends.
"Don't worry we'll be fine. I promise." Jack whispered through clenched teeth, as he quickly flew up to avoid another nightmare attack. Above us, I heard a sinister chuckle echoing around us before Pitch materialized out of thin air and smirked at us.
"Don't make promises you can't keep Jack" Pitched laughed as Jack used his right arm to point his wooden staff at the dark spirit. Before Jack could even try to attack, Pitch disappeared and the black sand from earlier suddenly began speeding towards the unsuspecting children below.
"Jamie! Sophie!" I cried as I saw Pitch heading straight towards them. "The guardians—"
"Won't make it time." Jack wearily finished, as we saw the rest of the guardians try to make their way closer to the two endangered kids.
"But you can." I said softly as I looked up at Jack's shocked face. "It's ok Jack, the kids are more important." I gave him a weak smile as I loosened my grip on his hand. Jack scrunched his face in frustration before giving me a determined look.
"I'll always come back for you." Jack swore as he looked straight into my eyes. I gave him a small chuckle as tears glittered on my cheeks.
"I know." I whispered. "I believe in you." without another word, Jack threw me high into the air before speeding straight after Pitch, staff at the ready.
I believe you'll save me. I thought as I slowly started to fall. And I believe you'll save us all. I screamed helplessly as I sped towards Earth; while I believed Jack would save me, that didn't mean that I wouldn't be scared of dying.
Three Days before Easter: Stephanie's POV
"Heads up!" A familiar voice cried as I walked down the snow filled sidewalk before a snowball pelted the back of my head. Turning around, I playfully glared at my attacker. "What? I told you heads up."
"Cause a sneak attack is so fair." I laughed before dropping my stuff and grabbing a hand full of snow before shaping it into a sphere. "Take that!" I said smiling as I threw the snow ball. Taking a side-step he dodged my attack before conjuring another snowball to throw at my face.
"Nice try, I'll give you an A for effort." he chuckled while the snow ball disintegrated as it landed on my face.
"Whatever! If you didn't have your-"
"Hey look it's the freak!" A snarky girl sneered filling me up with dread. It was none other than the drama queen\ prom queen of my school, Victoria Salazar. "Talking to our imaginary boyfriend? You do realize you have to bring REAL boys to prom right?" She laughed mockingly.
"Shut up Victoria, go do your make-up or something, or are you really that intent on making my life miserable? Because if that's so, then you honestly have no life." I scoffed rather weakly. I was never really good with comebacks. Victoria rolled her eyes before flipping her waist length black hair.
"I don't have to answer you loser—what the…?! Who threw that?!" Victoria screeched as a snow ball landed on her face, ruining the thick layer of make-up she wore. I smirked as I looked behind me to see the guilty party whistling innocently, but looking rather mischievous.
"Thanks." I said as Victoria stomped off to fix her make-up before anyone saw her. "I didn't think she would leave me alone. I swear it's her life goal to make my life as miserable as possible." I sighed as I looked at a nearby car's window reflection to make sure I dusted the rest of the snow off my face.
"She had it coming." My defender shrugged as he picked up a pile of snow before shaping it into another snowball. "No one makes fun of my friends."
"I'm your only friend Jack Frost." I smiled rolling my eyes playfully, "Ever since I saw you when I was like 7." Jack smiled fondly as I picked up my folder I had dropped previously and walked onwards.
"Yeah considering you're the only person who sees me." Jack suddenly said quiet depressingly. I gave him a small smile.
"Don't worry Jack, one day other kids will believe in you and you'll have new friends." I stopped in front of him and gave him a large foxy smile "So much friends that you'll eventually forget about little old me."
"That will never happen, the part where I forget you" He hastily added as he swiped the sidewalk with his magical staff causing a thin covering of frost to appear. "You're too awesome to forget."
"Thanks, at least one person thinks so." I sighed as I finally reached the entrance to my high school. It was our last day of school before we left for Easter break, just three days away and many of the kids had decided to leave with their families, leaving probably only about 200 kids in the school. Enough kids to torment me. "See you after school Jack," I whispered under my breath as I passed several students.
"Don't let them push you around alright?! I'll be back as soon as I can!" Jack called out before he jumped high into the air and a huge gust of wind quickly took him to his destination. Many kids complained as papers flew out of their hands or messed up their hair and I could hear Jack laughing at their misfortune as I entered the school.
I really wish he could stay with me at school. I thought as I made my way towards my locker. Then school wouldn't be so bad—
"Look out everyone Stephanie Freak Jones is in the building." A bulky blonde football player laughed along with his buddies.
"Is the Easter Bunny next to me? Or better yet is the Boogieman standing right behind us?" Another player sneered as his buddies laughed at his 'jokes' I said nothing as I gathered my stuff from my locker and tried to leave but four other people from the football team blocked my way, forcing me to turn around and face my tormenter.
"Dawson, Drew will you two leave me alone?" I muttered as I tried to walk past the group only to be blocked yet again. They looked down on me with cold and sneering eyes and as I tried to walk back, but the other football members quickly cut off my only exit.
"Not until we have some fun"
Hello my name is Stephanie Jones and I'm seventeen years old with short choppy black hair and icy blue eyes and my life...it's never been simple. My mom and dad died in a car accident when I was five and my grandparents had died the year before so I was sent to an orphanage. You would have thought with my cute facial features a family would take me home but I was different from other kids.
At a young age, my parents really didn't encourage me to believe in fairy tales such as Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc. so I never thought much of them. When they died, my faith in them faded into nothingness as I realized I had to grow up if I wanted to survive in the orphanage and I always got angry at the kids who happily told tales of the tooth fairy visiting them or something of the sort. However, that changed one night when I had a nightmare, a nightmare so dark that I woke up in a cold sweat but for some reason I never cried. That's probably what lured him to me, the Boogieman. I met him that night as I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't and what a surprise it was, to the both of us.
Apparently for a long time, no one could see him but me. When he told me he was the Boogieman I really didn't believe him. I mean he was a childhood fairy tale right? Yet, I could still see him, which was unheard of since he said only kids who believed could see him or other spirits. We talked for a while before he left and after that night nothing was ever the same.
From then on I could see people, animals, and creatures that weren't really supposed to exists according to adults. I saw the tooth fairy, well her minions, on multiple occasions when children at the orphanage lost their baby teeth, the Easter Bunny when we all went Easter egg hunting in the spring, Santa Claus during Christmas and finally The Sandman, when everyone went to sleep who I never even knew existed. Of course when I told the adults this they merely laughed and told me that if I didn't eat my vegetables he or she wouldn't visit me. Normal right? Well it got to the point where I began talking to the spirits. What could I say? I was lonely at the orphanage most of the time. Only the minor ones like the Boogieman and a boy who called himself Jack Frost and every spirit that people talked about that kids didn't really believe in would stop and chat with me. However, I was the only one who was able to see them despite still being skeptical of their existence.
So when people tried to adopt me, they would always come and find me conversing with my "imaginary" friends and think it was a cute childhood habit before taking me home. They always thought I would outgrow it but as they realized that I would not stop, they gave me back. No one wanted an insane child. This went on for several years and the adults at the orphanage soon began thinking I was crazy as I grew older and still talked about fairytales. Not that it was my fault! I was lonely and had no one to talk to and the spirits had no one else to talk to so they would always come to me. What was I suppose to do? Turn them away?
Eventually this lead me to become an outcast among my peers as they grew out of the "I believe in the Easter bunny etc." stage and I really didn't since I saw them on a day to day basis. Kids saw me as the freak when they caught me talking to the spirits and it only got worse in High school since the city was small and almost every kid knew about me. They make sure my life is a living hell and there's really nothing I can do about it.
"I hate Fridays" I groaned as I stumbled down the stairs rubbing my arm where Victoria punched and pinned me. Girls were always the vicious ones, at least the boys didn't physically hurt me, although they always take my stuff and ruin it. "Teachers don't give a shit today and let everything slide. Damn Victoria for taking advantage of it."
"Feeling a bit down are we?" Jack's voice whispered behind me sending a chill down my neck before I turned around and gave him a hug.
"Not anymore now that you're here." I smiled as the both of us took a deserted street to go home so no one would see me talking to nothing. "Anything exciting?" Jack just jumped ahead of me before gliding back frowning.
"Just the usual, I gave the younger kids a snow day-"
"Hey what about us?" I laughed as I punched him playfully on the shoulder trying to make him smile, "We older kids want a snow day too."
"You were in class already." Jack chuckled as he swung his wooden staff around "So I helped out the younger ones."
"You owe me then." I smiled as we neared the orphanage, "I want to do something fun with you-"
"Are you free now?" The white haired boy asked suddenly as he floated slightly off the ground in front of me "Cause I have an idea. You still have your ice skates right?"
"Yeah, they're in my room. Why?"
"Because today I'm going to show you THE awesomest ice rink you've ever seen." He smiled as he grabbed onto my gloved hand, I learned it's better to wear gloves around Jack otherwise when he holds your bare hand he can accidentally give you frostbite.
"Whoa hold on." I cried as I tried to pull my hand away from Jack. "Me and ice skates are a no-no. Not since that field trip to the ice rink last year where I nearly broke my ankle." Jack merely turned around and gave me a smirk.
"That's because Jack Frost didn't teach you how to ice skate personally." I raised one of my eyebrows at him.
"Oh really now? How am I supposed to learn ice skating from a person who doesn't even wear skates, let alone shoes." I remarked as I pointed to his bare feet that despite not wearing shoes at all still looked pale and undisturbed by the cold weather.
"You forget I'm THE Jack Frost." Jack laughed rather cockily. "I know ice better than anyone."
"Yeah I know that but do you even ice skate—"
"It's just like walking, trust me." Jack interrupted as we finally reached the orphanage. "Now get your skates, I'll be waiting in your room to make sure you do." Jack smiled as he jumped up to the second floor to the third window on the left where my room was. I just chuckled before entering the orphanage.
"Hello Stephanie," one of the care takers called out as I passed her. "How was your day?"
"The usual." I sighed as I grabbed an apple off the counter. "Got teased by kids and then got teased by more kids." The caretaker merely gave me a sad smile.
"Don't worry hun', it'll get better I promise you." I bit into the apple and said nothing because I knew in my mind it was never going to get better unless I moved to a place where no one knows of my background.
"Anyways, I'm going out. Gonna go and ice skate in the woods." I shouted to her as the younger kids began yelling from the other room. "I'll be back by—"
"Actually, the Bennett's have asked you to babysit their children today at seven." The caretaker interrupted as she pulled two shouting kids apart and sent them to their rooms. "You don't mind right? You like their family correct? They said you can even sleep over because they need you until Easter." I smiled at the mention of the Bennett's and couldn't help but nod. Ever since last year I had to get a job in order to pay for some school stuff because the orphanage couldn't pay for me anymore if I still wanted to live there. So I started my own babysitting business and the Bennett's became the number one customer and I didn't mind them at all. Jamie was a little angel sent from heaven and Sophie was just plain adorable and the best part, was that they loved it when I told them stories of fairytales.
"Yeah, I'll just take my stuff so I won't bother you." I smiled as I began walking up the steps.
"Have you found a place yet though?" The caretaker suddenly asked, causing a sinking feeling in my stomach. "You're time here is almost up and I would hate to see you homeless—"
"It's fine don't worry." I quickly said waving her off and giving her a fake smile. "I'm already looking into a place. There's nothing to worry about." Before she could get in another word, I quickly ran into my room where Jack was waiting….as patiently as he could.
"What took you so long?" he asked as he floated around my room making it at least five degrees colder and frosting some of my possessions.
"Just saying hi to my caretaker. And also I need to take my stuff; I'm babysitting the Bennett's until Easter." I smiled as I grabbed my bag of clothing and my second hand skates. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going."
"Wait, I heard you talking about getting a place." Jack said as he floated in front of the door blocking my exit. "Are you leaving? I thought you said you don't leave the orphanage until you're eighteen. You're seventeen right?" Jack asked worryingly.
He can't know the truth, he can't know that you haven't found a place. And most of all he can't know that you'll be kicked out in a couple months. I thought to myself as I remembered my dire situation.
It was a couple weeks ago when one of the caretakers came up to me and the rest of the older kids at the orphanage. She told all of us that the orphanage wasn't doing so well and that they couldn't afford to keep the older kids here any longer. We had the potential to get a job and pay rent so we were the best candidates to actually survive in the streets.
Many had already moved out after finding jobs that also provided board but I was one of the few who were having trouble. Sure I had a job but it wasn't really steady. If I had a good month of babysitting then I could pay rent for an apartment, but recently the demand for babysitting had gone down so drastically that I don't think I could pay rent with babysitting alone. My situation was getting grimmer by the day but I didn't want Jack to know. He already had enough to worry about.
"Jack relax it's fine." I gave him a fake smile as I tried to hide the dread creeping behind it. "It's just that the orphanage can't afford to have older kids living here while they have to pay for the younger ones. I mean I have a steady job…babysitting is enough for me to pay rent at a really cheap apartment. It's fine really, nothing you need to worry about. Now come on let's get skating before I have to babysit." I laughed as I pushed Jack out of the way and ran down the stairs.
"Stephanie where you going?" One of the kids at the orphanage asked as she stepped outside her room. I kneeled down to her level and ruffled her brown curls playfully. She giggled happily.
"Well, Lizzy I'm going to go ice skating outside for a while and then I have to go and babysit some other kids. I won't be back until Easter though." Lizzy coughed for a moment—breaking my heart a bit as I remembered she had a very bad case of tuberculosis—before she smiled brightly at me.
"When I get better can I go with you?"
"Of course! Now stay warm. I hear it's going to be very cold tonight—"
"Cause Jack Frost is visiting right?" She excitingly exclaimed, jumping around for a bit before starting another coughing fit. "You said that right?!" Right from the corner of my eye I saw Jack's eyes widen a bit as he heard Lizzy call out his name.
"Of course! Now go and get dinner before everyone else does." I smiled as she ran down stairs giggling.
"You told her about me?" Jack asked softly as he landed right beside me.
"If course I did, I even told them about the other spirits as well. But…" I sighed deeply before continuing, "Not all of them believe in the other spirits even though they sound like they do." I looked at Jack a bit sadly before walking down the rest of the stairs and waving goodbye to the other kids before opening the door letting in the chilly afternoon winter wind.
"Why not?" Jack asked as he floated right beside me.
"It's hard to see the good when you're surrounded by despair and the Orphanage doesn't have enough money to get all the kids what they want and they can't take them to Easter Egg hunts as often either. Kids soon stop believing in them because in the orphanage you kind of have to grow up otherwise you might not survive." I sighed once again before turning around and smiling at Jack.
"Well enough of this depressing talk, where's this "Awesome" ice rink you speak so highly of Mr. Frost?"
"Well, my dear lady." Jack chuckled as he played along, "If you follow me then I'll show you."
"Hey, this is your 'home' right?" I huffed as I finally exited the forest and entered a frozen pond surrounded by rocks and trees covered in heavy packs of snow. Probably Jack's doing but what really hit me was how familiar this place was despite not being here ever.
"Yes it is ma'am. Now," Jack began as he landed right in front of me smirking, "I believe it's time for you to put your ice skates on and the lessons shall begin." I sighed as I dropped my bag unceremoniously near the edge of the frozen pond and began taking off my shoes to replace them with my skates.
"Are you sure the ice is thick enough?" I asked as I laced up my skates. "I really don't fancy a swim this time of the season."
"Relax," Jack smiled as he flew towards me, smiling. "I'm here so you don't have to worry about falling in. Now get on the ice." Jack laughed as he pulled me off the banks of the pond and right onto the ice. I gave out a small scream as I was pulled away from the safety of solid ground and now stood on an iced pond that could give in any second. "Now place your right foot in front of your left foot—" before I could even take a step, I fell rather heavily on the ice.
"You're laughing at my pathetic attempts aren't you?" I growled as I saw Jack trying to hold in his laughter.
"Maybe, but let's just try again shall we?" Jack smiled as he lent me a hand.
"Great."
After two hours of falling and somewhat skating the sun began setting over the mountains and it was sadly time to go.
"Alright, I have to call it a day." I huffed as I came to a stop in the middle of the large frozen pond with several skate marks now freshly imprinted on it. "I need to head over to the Bennett's."
"Aw we were just getting the hang of it." Jack chuckled as he floated behind me and gently pushed me towards the edge of the pond. I scoffed as I tried to keep balance.
"Oh yes, if getting the hang of it actually involves falling on your ass at least 50% of the time and the other 49% on your face and the 1% actually skating. Then yes, I was getting the hang of it."
"Well, since you are so sure you are getting the hang of it, why don't we have one last spin?" Jack smirked mischievously as he grabbed my arm and quickly spun me around before I could even voice a protest. I could hear Jack laughing above me as I lost balance and fell on the icy surface rather hard. I glared at him harshly as I finally got over my wave of dizziness and shouted out to him,
"Jack! You asshole, when I get my hands on you I'm going to—"
"CRACK"
The sound quickly silenced the both of us as I quickly looked down at frozen surface to see cracks quickly appearing underneath me as my weight began weakening the surface. None of us moved for a moment as the crack suddenly stopped spreading, scared that a sudden movement would be my downfall.
"Jack." I whispered as I tried to stay still as possible only to have several more cracks appear underneath me. "Jack…help." I shouted as more cracks appeared and I hastily tried to get up and run, only succeeding in making more cracks. As I fell for another time, I felt the floor beneath me crumble and heard Jack screaming my name before I felt the icy water piercing through my clothing and penetrating my skin.
I immediately held my breath as I felt the cold water seep through my jeans but due to the shock of the cold water, I let out a gasp and as I went under, I didn't really have enough air in my lungs. I felt myself slowly being dragged under by the weight of my clothes as I tried desperately to swim up.
So cold I wearily thought as I felt lightheaded and slowly stopped trying to swim upwards. How come this feels familiar though? I thoughts as images flashed quickly before my eyes.
Someone who looked like Jack only with brown hair and eyes was standing in the middle of the pond looking just like the one we were at. Two girls stood nearby, a small brown haired girl shaking as cracks appeared underneath her while the other—older and more closer to the look alike Jack's age—black haired girl was reaching out to the small girl. Eventually the Jack look alike managed to save the small girl but inadvertently switched places with her and he fell into the frigid water instead, as the ice could no longer support the weight. The girl with black hair quickly rushed to the small hole, grabbing a wooden staff and reaching to the boy all the while yelling at the other girl. Most likely telling her to get help. The little girl left as the black haired girl managed to grab a hold of the lookalike and slowly pulled him up. However, just as she was about to pull him to safety the ice cracked even more and both fell back into the dark lake just as the little girl arrived with more help.
What was that? Who was that and why did I see that? Aren't I supposed to see my future flash before my eyes instead of the..er.. past? No matter, I choked as I could no longer hold my breath and breathed in icy water, stinging my throat and lungs. I'm a dead man anyways, I hope Jack doesn't blame himself…it wasn't….wasn't….his…..fault. Before my eyes could close I felt something wrap around my wrist and pulled me roughly upwards. Before I knew it, I was no longer swimming and I could finally breathe in air, once I coughed out the water from my lungs.
"Stephanie! Stephanie!" I heard Jack cry as I continued to cough out the water from my lungs in order to breathe in. "Are you alright?!"
"C-co-ld" I coughed out as I felt the chilly winds brush against my already cold and wet clothes.
"Damn it! I can't—I can't warm you up." Jack growled in frustration as he hovered near me since he would probably make me even colder. "I could barely save you from the pond! I had to use some old rope to save you! If I had gone down myself I probably would have frozen you to death! How am I supposed to get you help?!"
"B—be—enn—etts" I shivered out as I furiously tried to warm myself up. "N-nee-d t-t-oo g-g-get t-t-h-her-re" my teeth clattered rapidly against each other as I tried to move myself away from the pond but I was rather unsuccessful.
"Stephanie! Just wait here, I'll get some help—"
"H-how?" I asked I continued to crawl over to my bag hoping that I had brought a towel and a blanket this time. "N-no o-n-ne s-s-sees yo-u." Jack stayed silent as I continued to crawl slowly towards my bag and to my relief there was a towel and blanket in there. "I j-j-ust n-need to g-g-e-t to t-the Ben-n-nett's now. T-they c-can h-help me."
"What can I do?" Jack asked worryingly as he landed next to me just as I was taking off my skates—replacing them with shoes—and wrapping the towel and blanket around me tightly.
"M-make su-re I don't f-fall asle-e-ep." I chattered as I forced myself to stand and slowly began moving towards the city. I took only two steps before I fell to the ground shivering uncontrollably.
"Stephanie!" Jack cried as he landed next to me, his image becoming blurry as I suddenly felt sleepy. "Stephanie wake up!"
"In…a….minute." I muttered as I wrapped myself tightly in the blanket and towel. "I'm…tired."
"Stephanie! Stephanie! Stephanie—" Jack's voice seemed to be getting deeper and slower as my mind began shutting itself down, dangerous in this weather but I really couldn't help myself. I was on my own, well not really but Jack couldn't do much to help me.
"In….a….min….ute." I whispered as I closed my eye and let the darkness take over my mind. However, before I passed out, I heard a sinister chuckle sounding eerily familiar but before I could wonder who it belonged too, I was suddenly falling from the sky and black tendrils of sand spun around me and for the longest time, I felt scared.
"NO!" I screamed as I shot up from the warm bed, panting heavily. My eyes quickly darted around the room trying to find anything out of the ordinary but came up empty. Calming myself down, I looked out the window and replayed the events before I fell asleep.
I did in fact go ice skating with Jack and the ice did crack but instead of falling like in my dream, Jack had quickly swooped down and carried me out of harm's way. I went to the Bennett's after that since I was too shaken up to continue. It was seven by the time I made it the Bennett's household and both of Jamie's parents went out to dinner as I arrived leaving me with the two children after greeting me and showing me to my room.
"I played with them and told them stories about Jack and the rest of the spirits and it was bedtime before I knew it and I sent them to bed and—"
"You went to sleep rather quickly." A smooth yet mocking voice said from the corner of the room. I looked up and golden eyes pierced mine as a familiar spirit came out of the shadows, smirking. "I would have thought you would stay up until at least 11. Getting tired now are we?" I gave him a small smile.
"Nice to see you too Pitch. Having fun giving kids nightmares? Wait were you the one who gave me that nightmare? I thought you only gave them to children." I asked aloud as Pitch stepped closer to me. Pitch merely chuckled as he waved his hand and conjured up a steady stream of black sand. My eyes widened as I recalled the sand from my nightmare.
"Well, I thought I would give my…favorite….believer a visit." He smirked as the sand transformed into a rather terrifying horse even though it couldn't have been bigger than my hand. "It's more fun to destroy the sweet dreams of older children even though the terrified faces of children having nightmares are just as welcoming." Pitch smiled crookedly at me showing his pointed teeth.
"That's new." I muttered as the horse trotted towards me and a feeling of fear came along with it. "I thought you only had power over shadows*."
"Yes well…we all grow Stephanie." Pitch laughed as he waved his hand once more and the horse immediately flew towards him. "Some for the better." He growled out lowly. I gave him a distasteful glance; for some reason even though Pitch still had the same frightening demeanor when I met him when I was six, there was something…off about him. Something more evil.
"Are you alright Pitch?" I asked suddenly catching him off guard for a moment. "I mean…you don't sound like you—"
"It's been years since we last properly talked to each other Stephanie." Pitch suddenly spat out, glaring at me. "Of course I would sound different to you—"
"No not that I mean…" I paused for a moment trying to find the right words to say "You sound crueler than usual and the black sand it just reeks of—"
"Fear—"
"No, I was going for evil but it does have a lot of fear in it too." I sighed as I rubbed my head. "It's just…it's not you Pitch and that worries me—"
"So you prefer the weaker and unbelieved in Pitch Black instead?" Pitch snarled at me causing the room to darken considerably even though the light from the street lamp outside provided considerable illumination.
"I never said anything like that." I replied trying to stay calm as a feeling of dread washed over me. "I just said that this new you worries me a bit."
You feel tainted for some reason. And who ever could taint fear is something to be frightened of. I thought as Pitch continued to glare harshly at me.
"Well, no matter." Pitch suddenly remarked, standing tall and looked down at me. "Your opinion will no longer matter, not after a couple of days."
"A couple days? What do you mean?" I asked worryingly. "Pitch what's going on—"
"We'll meet again soon Stephanie." Pitch hissed as he slowly retreated back to the shadows his golden eyes only visible, "But not on the same side."
"PITCH WAIT!" I called out to the fearful spirit before his golden eyes disappeared as well, signaling that he had left the room. "Pitch…" I called out softly worried for the dark spirit "Be safe…please."
"LOOK STEPH LOOK! IT SNOWED LAST NIGHT IT SNOWED LAST NIGHT!" Jamie cried happily, rushing into my room and startling me as I was finishing changing. "Oops sorry." Jamie apologized as he saw my raised eyebrow.
"Next time knock alright, I might not be finished changing." I laughed as I ruffled his hair. "And yes, I saw. Looks like Jack Frost visited us last night." I muttered, smiling as I saw Jack flying around outside the house smiling at me.
"Mom wants us to eat breakfast together." Jamie spoke up ripping my attention away from the snow spirit. "And then she said we can go sledding together!" Jamie laughed as he jumped up and down in happiness.
"Alright alright." I chuckled as I grabbed my coat and gloves. I was already wearing several layers of clothing. I wore a black three quarters sleeve shirt with a grey tee shirt over it. Over those two layers of clothing I wore a red, almost overall type clothing. It stopped beneath my breasts and the suspenders crisscrossed at the back. I wore dark blue jeans with black snow shoes. "Let's go get some breakfast then." I gently pushed Jamie out of the room and followed him. Before I left the room however, I grabbed a grey beanie and placed it on my head, letting it cover the back of my head and leaving some strands in the front. This had been my mother's before she died and I hardly went anywhere without it.
"Snow day!" Jamie laughed as he ran out of the house with his red sleigh in his hands. "Come on Steph! We gotta meet up with my friends!"
"Coming!" I laughed as I looked back at Jamie's mother who held Sophie. Sophie smiled at me, her uneven cut blond hair covering her right eye—apparently Jamie had tried to trim it for her—and I gave her a smile back. "Don't worry Mrs. Bennett, I'll make sure no harm comes to Jamie." The woman merely smiled at me.
"You have yet to let me down Stephanie. I'm sure you won't this time."
"Bye mom! We'll be back by lunch time!" Jamie called out as he pulled me away eager to spend the day with his friends.
"Bye honey, play safe!"
Play safe? I chuckled in my head as I saw Jack floating besides us, ready to have some fun. With Jack around, playing safe is not an option.
"Did you see me?! I was like woosh and then I turned right before a truck hit me and then I went flying!" Jamie excitedly shouted, waving his arms around to exaggerate his story. "And then my tooth! It came out when a couch hit me!"
"Yes, I saw all that." I chuckled as we walked back towards the Bennett's house, "Nearly scared me half to death. I thought you were going to hit some cars." I gave a small glare to Jack as he floated right next to me not seen by Jamie
"Hey, at least he didn't get killed." Jack laughed in his defense, "I may play a little dangerous but I'm not going to let that kill a kid."
"Thanks for saving him though." I whispered giving him a small smile which he returned.
"Thanks who?" Jamie asked as he heard my sentence. I gave him a pat on his head—he was wearing a hat today—and smiled brightly.
"Well, Jack Frost. He's the winter spirit so he must have steered you out of harm's way. Who else could have silly." Jamie gave me a childish glare before laughing.
"So he's real?"
"Of course!" I smiled happily, "Who do you think gave us this awesome snow day? And who do you think nips your nose on a cold winter day?" I laughed as I poked his nose lightly. "Now let's get some lunch. All that snowball fighting and nearly having a heart attack does make one rather hungry." And to prove my point, my stomach growled loudly.
"Last one back is a rotten egg!" Jamie laughed as he pushed my back before running towards the direction of his house.
"Cheater!" I laughed, glaring lightly at Jack who laughed as well, before running after Jamie. "And you stop laughing at my misery."
"What," Jack chuckled as he flew alongside me as I ran. "It's not every day I get to see you beaten by a kid." I merely stuck my tongue out at him before screaming in shock as Jack threw a snowball at me. "We're under attack! Run Jamie run!" I laughed as Jack threw more snow balls at us. For the rest of the run home, Jamie and I constantly ran from the barrage of snowballs before we finally made it to the safety of the Bennett's household.
"That was awesome!" Jamie panted as he fell onto the snow smiling happily. "Best snow day ever."
"You can say that again. God, how do you kids have the energy?" I gasped as I tried to catch my breath but smiled nonetheless. "I'm sure we'll have another one tomorrow. It's going to be Easter after all."
"EASTER! We'll get to see the Easter Bunny right?!" Jamie sat up excitedly before asking in a small voice, "You'll come Easter Egg hunting with us right? You promised us last Easter." I sighed before giving him a small smile.
"I can't exactly promise you anything, I have to help out the kids in the Orphanage that day. But, I will do everything in my power to have an Easter Egg hunt with you guys, alright?" Jamie smiled brightly at me, nodding happily. "Good. Now let's get inside, it's starting to get chilly."
"Wait Stephanie, I got to talk with you." Jack suddenly shouted as I saw him standing on the fence. I gave him a small nod before turning to Jamie.
"You go on ahead, I um need to do something. I'll be there in a bit alright."
"Kay!" I sighed in relief as Jamie ran into the house and left no one to witness my conversation with Jack.
"So what do you need Jack?" I asked as I gave him my full attention.
"Well it's more of an apology," Jack blurted out looking a bit pink in the cheeks. "I didn't mean to put Jamie in any danger, I just wanted him to have some fun and—"
"Relax Jack," I laughed before patting him on the shoulder. "I know you didn't mean any harm. Besides, you did save Jamie in the end so it's cool."
"Oh…so I didn't need to—"
"Nah the apology was still needed." I chuckled as he gave me a light glare. "Especially after the ice pond incident."
"Hey I frosted the ice pretty good before you came, not my fault you were heavy." Jack laughed.
"Whatever." I stuck my tongue out at him before I suddenly remembered my dream's…dream? "Hey Jack, I've been meaning to ask you…do you remember your past life by any chance?" Jack's happy demeanor suddenly went sour as he frowned.
"No…I can't remember anything….why do you ask?" I shrug, not wanting to bring up any more bad memories.
"Nothing I just wanted to know if you remembered anything that's all." The both of us stood there awkwardly for a moment before Jack stood up,
"Well, I have places to bring snow to. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Jack asked hopefully since he did like spending more time with Jamie since he was a kid.
"Maybe." I smiled softly, "Now go, and stay safe alright?"
"Yes mother." Jack chuckled as the wind suddenly picked up around us and before I knew it, Jack shot up and flew north. I smiled as I saw his figure slowly disappearing in the horizon before turning around and heading into the household.
"What took you so long? We're having mac and cheese!" Jamie cried as I entered the house.
"Mac and cheese, Mac and cheese!" Sophie chanted running around me along with their greyhound Abby.
"Sorry, just having a chat with Jack Frost that's all." I laughed as I put my coat on the coat hanger. "Now let's not tell your mother about the nearly dying by sledding on the road shall we Jamie?"
"Tell us another story please! Please!" Jamie pleaded as he, Sophie, and Abby sat down in Sophie's bedroom around me waiting for another story.
"I already told you everything about every spirit I know of." I laughed as I hugged a fairy Sophie—who had decided to be a fairy after hearing about my encounter with a tooth fairy— and petted Abby. "Unless you want to hear about the Boogieman!"
"Boogieman, Boogieman!" Sophie squealed "Tell us about the Boogieman!"
"You sure you won't be scared? This story isn't for the faint hearted." I dramatically told the two children who giggled at my theatrics. "Very well, I shall tell you of my first encounter with…the Boogieman!"
"It was just another night at the Orphanage, nothing out of the ordinary. No stormy night, lightning or anything really. You could say it was a night much like this." I smiled as I saw the children flinch a bit, looking out the window before turning their attention back towards me.
"Were you scared when you saw him?" Sophie asked quietly.
"How did you know it was even him?" Jamie asked as well.
"To answer your questions, no I wasn't really scared of him rather I was scared of the nightmare he gave me. And I knew it was him because he told me so Jamie."
"He gives you nightmares?" Jamie asked shocked a bit.
"That's what he does." I muttered looking at the shadows to see if there were any signs of him. "He goes around giving children nightmares causing many kids to fear him."
"What did he make you have a nightmare of?" Sophie quietly asked.
"Well, I have an unbelievable fear of heights so I had a nightmare where I was on top of this very high mountain and there were monsters after me. The only way out was to jump off that cliff." I lied to the children. My nightmare was really a replay of the car accident my parents were in. There wasn't any really reason to tell them that though; although, I really did have a phobia of heights.
"Were you scared?"
"Terrified, so much that I decided to face the monsters instead." I chuckled as I improvised my story, "But the Boogieman still wanted me to fall off the cliff, so it broke apart and I was falling thousands of feet towards the ground to my death." Both kids gasped and I mentally congratulated myself.
"Did you die?" Jamie asked
"No, before I was going to hit the ground I woke up, but I didn't scream." I said recalling the events of that night.
"But weren't you scared?" I nodded. "Then why didn't you scream?" Jamie once again asked.
"I just…didn't….strange I know. My parents used to tell me that I was always a quiet child so maybe that's it." I muttered as I remembered my parents for a while. "Anyways, I woke up and I was furiously looking around the room. It was my first night there so I wasn't really used to the bedroom. It was squeaky, creaky and had a draft. Not exactly the room you'd feel safe in."
"Was he there?" Sophie asked hugging my arm tightly.
"Yeah, he was. He came out of the shadows from my room. His glowing gold eyes were the first thing I saw. Then as he stepped out of the shadows, I saw his whole body. He was pale, ghostly pale and he wore a black coat that reached all the way to his foot. His black hair was slicked back and his teeth glowed as he gave me a threatening smile." I whispered giving them a feral growl to prove my point further. "He stopped right in front of my bed and chuckled. 'Have a nice nightmare?' he asked shocking me a bit. How did he know I had a nightmare? I asked myself. Before I could ask him that though he turned around and began leaving."
"So you never got to talk to him?" Jamie asked sounding a bit disappointed.
"Let me finish my story Jamie," I chuckled as I saw him give me an apologetic glance. "Before he left though I asked him a question, after mustering up the courage to do so. As soon as the last word left my mouth, he suddenly stopped and turned around, his golden eyes widening in shock just a bit. 'You see me?' he asked and I nodded. Apparently it had been a long time since a child had seen him." I told Jamie and Sophie who were holding onto my every word.
"Really!? But why? Wouldn't have more kids have seen him?" Jamie asked
"Well, it's complicated." I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair. "Tell me, when you tell your parents that you had a nightmare about the Boogieman, what do they tell you?"
"That's he's not real!" Sophie answered giggling. I smiled at her.
"Right, so when kids don't believe in spirits they don't see them." Jamie nodded as if my explanation explained a lot.
"Did you believe in him? Is that why you saw him?"
"In a way yes I did. You see, I don't believe the Boogieman gives kids nightmares just because he wants to—"
"Why?" Sophie asked this time before yawning loudly.
"Because," I chuckled as I picked up a sleepy Sophie and placed her in her bed. "I think he's trying to prepare us. Prepare us for the cruel realities of real life." I sighed as Sophie's eyes closed and her breathing began to slow down. "Sleep tight Sophie."
"What do you mean by that though?" Jamie asked as he stood next to me and looked down at his sleeping sister.
"I mean," I smiled as I picked up Jamie—who laughed at being picked up—and carried him out of the room, Abby following obediently. "If you can't overcome your worst childhood fear then how are you going to survive reality? It's tough when you're an adult so I think that the Boogieman gives us nightmares to help us overcome our fears. After all, if we can overcome our fears then we're ready for anything right?" I chuckled as I opened the door to Jamie's room and placed him on his bed. "Now go to sleep, you guys should have been in bed at least an hour ago."
"But I'm not tired!" Jamie whined "And I want to hear more of the Boogieman!"
"Another day." I smiled as Abby jumped up onto the end of Jamie's bed and curled up. "Besides don't you want the Tooth Fairy to come collect your tooth?" I asked, chuckling at Jamie's face as he realized he still had his tooth. "She can't come if you're awake—"
"Get out of my room Steph! I want to sleep!" Jamie excitedly cried as he placed his teeth underneath his pillow and quickly got underneath the covers.
"Alright alright." I laughed as I turned off the light and closed the door to his room. "Sleep tight." I whispered before retreating to my own room. "Another night to myself," I sighed as I quickly changed into pajamas before getting a couple pieces of paper out and a pencil. "I guess I'll stay up for a while drawing." I smiled as I got to work.
After an hour of doodles I decided to call it a night. After all, I needed to get up early in order to help out the kids at the Orphanage tomorrow. Before I could turn off the lights however, I heard whispering coming from Jamie's room.
What the…?—is someone in the house?! I thought frantically as I looked for a weapon to defend the children with. They better not be planning to hurt Jamie. I growled lightly as I found myself a baseball bat and quietly made my way to the door. Suddenly the alarm clock went off and I could hear Abby growling as the sounds from Jamie's room became louder.
"JAMIE!" I cried as I raced towards his room only to trip on the carpet. "Stupid carpet." I growled as I pushed myself up only to hear the noise in Jamie's room quiet down considerably. "JAMIE!" I shouted as I ran to his door and shoved it open only to have my jaw drop in shock.
"What the fuck!?"
*Even though Pitch's powers do come from black sand, I decided to mix it up a bit in order for it to work in my story. Sorry if this displeases you.
And end for now. Not much to go on sorry about that but my story really doesn't take place in Rise of the Guardians plot. Everything good happens much later. So please, if it's not too much please review, it really makes my day.
-Midnightmich